(Minghui.org) A Heishan County, Liaoning Province resident was sentenced to 2.5 years in late April 2023 for her faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Qi Sumei was arrested on March 1, 2023 for talking to people about Falun Gong at a farmers’ market. However, due to her high blood pressure, the Jinzhou Detention Center refused to admit her and she was released on bail.
Ms. Qi went to the Heishan County Domestic Security Office on March 21 and tried to persuade the director, Wang Zhen, not to participate in the persecution anymore. Wang refused to listen and attempted to take Ms. Qi to the Linghai City Procuratorate, the designated procuratorate for handling Falun Gong cases in that region. Ms. Qi held tightly to the chair she was sitting on in the Domestic Security office and the officers couldn’t move her. After a one-hour standoff, they let her go home.
Wang and several officers from the procuratorate went to Ms. Qi’s home on March 27, ordering her to go with them to the Heishan Township Police Station to answer some questions. Ms. Qi refused to let them in. Her son, who was visiting her and her husband, said to the police that his father, a stroke patient, was trembling after being terrified by them and that they would be held responsible if his condition worsened due to the mental pressure. The police soon left.
Two clerks from the Linghai City Court came with the police to Ms. Qi’s home on April 3. They told her that she had been indicted. Her son signed the indictment for her.
On April 19, over twenty people from the Linghai City Court came to the Heishan Township Police Station. While they waited there, Wang went to Ms. Qi’s home and deceived her into going to the police station.
Upon arriving there, Ms. Qi tried to explain to the court personnel that practicing Falun Gong violates no law, but they refused to listen. The conversation wrapped up quickly.
Court clerk Li Pengru and Wang delivered Ms. Qi’s verdict to her home on April 26. She was sentenced to 2.5 years with a 5,000-yuan fine. Only then did she realize that the conversation she had with the judge in the police station the week before was her court hearing.
Ms. Qi’s verdict bore the signatures of the presiding judge, Huang Yanchun, and two other judges, Wang Run and Tian Kun. Li said they were working with the Jinzhou Detention Center to evaluate Ms. Qi’s health and whether she would serve time at home or in the detention center.
A few hours after they left, Wang called Ms. Qi and ordered her to go to the detention center the next day for a physical examination. As she refused to go, the police came to her home and attempted to take her there. She resisted and eventually the police relented and left. They said that since it was still within the ten-day window for her to appeal the sentence, it was fine that they didn’t enforce the physical examination right away.
The surprise sentencing dealt Ms. Qi a heavy blow, and she experienced abdominal pain a day later. Her son took her to the hospital and she was found to have swelling in her abdomen. Her son called Wang about her situation. Wang came to the hospital and took photos of Ms. Qi’s medical report. Ms. Qi’s family took her to Shenyang, the capital and the largest city in Liaoning Province, on May 3, for an operation in a larger hospital there.
Related report:
Liaoning Woman Faces Prosecution for Talking to People about Her Faith
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